Work Text:
Good morning, are you ready for the big game? :-)
Eijun groaned. He really ought to teach his boyfriend which emojis to use and which not. He texted like an old man - embarrassing! But his heart still warmed at the thought of Miyuki spending way too long to type out the message when it had only been weeks since he bought his first smartphone. He grinned to himself. Miyuki had admitted after they had gone on their first date that he had actually bought the smartphone, a smashed up iPhone 5, to be able to text him, Eijun.
He felt a small blush blooming on his cheeks. His boyfriend was just too perfect.
And today, for the first time in ages, he was to pitch to his favorite catcher in an official game. It had taken him way too long to work his way to the first string - university baseball was harder than he had expected, though he had also received unparalleled support and coaching - but after a year of running and pitching to Miyuki only after official training ended he was finally standing at the starting line again.
I was born ready! ⚾️🥇
He texted back and finally rolled over to get out of bed. His body protested at the movement, giving courtesy to the late night run he had squeezed in after tossing and turning the night before. Running had been his favorite way of burning off unnecessary emotions ever since Kataoka had sent him running in his first year in high school. He scrubbed a hand over his face again and then combed down the hair he felt sticking out in an odd angle with the same hand.
His body gave another twinge and he yawned. He would have to hide his slip up from Miyuki who would surely disapprove. When he glanced at his phone, his boyfriend had not yet replied.
The game would only start at 1 pm which gave him ample time to get ready. He stepped under the hot shower and washed away the night’s sweat. It had been an unusually warm night and his sleeping clothes were damp with sweat, but now he felt cold and clammy. Nothing a hot shower couldn’t cure. He sighed in relief when the water hit his aching body. Seriously, Miyuki was not allowed to learn about his reckless behaviour, running the evening before an important game. Eijun soaped up and noticed how warm his skin felt, that's what he got for showering too hot on a summer day. With a sigh he turned off the water and left the shower to get ready.
When he reached the stadium at around 11 am he could already hear the cheering squads practicing. He smiled. University baseball came with some very committed cheerleaders and Eijun felt a surge of pride that he would be the one being cheered on today.
„What are you smiling about?“ A hand grabbed his neck and another came up to ruffle his hair.
„Miyuki Kazuya!“ Eijun yowled. „I just washed my hair!“
His boyfriend grinned slyly and leaned down to sniff the crown of his head. Eijun jumped and pushed him away.
“Stop it, I did shower and I am surely smelling all fresh and delicious!”
“Yep”, Miyuki popped the p, “very delicious!”
“Stop making fun of me”, Eijun huffed and shoved off Miyuki's hand that had lingered in his hair.
“I would never make fun of you”, Miyuki replied, his signature smirk spreading across his face.
“I can smell your lies, stupid tanuki”, Eijun scoffed but smiled. He knew Miyuki liked to rile him up and somehow he had gotten used to it. Even enjoyed it.
Stockholm Syndrome, probably.
“Let's go get ready”, Miyuki grabbed his hand and pulled him along, right in front of some members of the cheer squad who squealed when they saw their star catcher and starting pitcher. While Eijun was friendly enough to wave, Miyuki just ignored them. Till today he got somehow embarrassed and awkward by attention outside the baseball field.
“I swear I packed a towel”, Eijun muttered to himself, irritated. He was rummaging through his sports bag to gather all the stuff he needed in the dugout. His bag was put together somewhat haphazardly, that he was used to. What was weird was the missing towel. Instead he found that he had packed his sweaty t-shirt from the night. Had he grabbed the wrong item in the bathroom?
He tried to remember but his thoughts felt a bit sluggish. Well, he had probably been distracted by his excitement for the game.
Right, the game.
He needed to get to the bullpen to warm up! Miyuki was probably already wondering where he was.
Eijun jumped to his feet and immediately had to grab the wall as his vision went spotty and his legs faltered. Ah damn, he hated when he got up too fast and that happened.
After what felt like an eternity his vision stabilized again. He grabbed his glove, his water bottle and his cap and jogged towards the field.
After a few throws Miyuki stopped him. His face was scrunched up in something akin to annoyance. „Try to at least hit my mitt.“
„Sorry!“ Eijun shouted. „I am just way too excited!“
Miyuki‘s stern expression slipped and made way for a helpless grin. „Well, try to get rid of that excess excitement. You have to pitch properly if you want to prove that you deserve your spot on the mound.“
Eijun nodded. He had to pull himself together, even though his shoulders felt a little tense. He took slow breaths and focused again. The next ball was neatly placed where Miyuki’s mitt was and the strong throw back told him everything he needed to know.
Eijun grinned. He could hardly wait for the game to start!
The cheers of the crowd were intoxicating, there was no other way to describe it! Being there, on the mound, almost felt like an out of body experience. His blood was rushing in his ears and his gaze couldn't even take everything in.
“Focus”, Miyuki called from where he was crouching. Right. The game!!
Eijun gave him a court nod and wound up for his first pitch. With a satisfying smack the ball hit Miyuki's mitt.
“Strike”, the umpire announced and Eijun pumped his fist.
“Nice ball”, Miyuki called as he tossed him the ball. Eijun grabbed for it, but his hand suddenly felt like it was made out of lead and he missed the ball. Under the roaring laughter of the crowd he went bright red when he scrambled to pick it up again.
This was almost like his Koshien debut back then!
He looked at Miyuki who was shaking his head, somewhat amused. Eijun for sure hoped he found his clumsiness rather endearing than annoying. Even now, he never knew what side of this line he trudged when it came to Miyuki, possibly both. Then again, they had been dating for almost 6 months now and it had been Miyuki who had somewhat awkwardly confessed that he couldn't stop thinking about Eijun, so he assumed Miyuki found it cute. Not that Eijun wanted to be cute.
Oh he almost had missed the sign! A cutter, alright that he could do.
The inning went by in what felt like seconds.
As did the ones after that. Sure, Eijun's pitch got hit a couple of times, but no one actually managed to score off him.
Still, when they made their way back to the dugout after the fifth inning, Miyuki kept eyeing him from the side.
„Something is off, but I don’t know what, yet.“
Eijun just shook his head. „We got all of them out and I feel great!“
Well, great was maybe an exaggeration. The muscle ache from his late night run was not the most comfortable thing, but at least it didn’t hinder him while pitching. Also, the dull pain actually made him focus on his movements more, so that was a plus. Maybe he should do a nightly run every time he was starting?
It was getting a little chilly watching his teammates play. While they made contact quite often, Harucchi and Mochi-senpai, now that they were in university on the opposing team, retired the first runner soon enough. He grabbed Miyuki’s jacket which he had placed on the bench while waiting for his turn to bat and layered it on top of his own. Better.
“You feeling alright?”, Sanada asked. Once a rival in high school, the pitcher now was Eijun’s teammate and the team's ace. However, he had also been mentoring Eijun on the sidelines, quietly voicing to him that his old injuries had been bothering him and that he hoped he could hand over the ace number to Eijun soon. Not even Miyuki knew of these quiet conversations both pitchers had in the bullpen or after training.
Having someone as reliable as Sanada as a backup made Eijun’s job as the starter significantly easier. He could trust Sanada to take over any time, but at the same time had someone to push him to be better.
“Yes, I’m just tired. You are not allowed to tell anyone, especially not Miyuki, but I went for a run yesterday and my muscles hurt. I was just a bit too nervous. But don’t you worry, I am ready to pitch this entire game.”, Eijun admitted to his senpai. Sanada had become something like a big brother to him in the past year, in a way similar to what he and Kuramochi had had in high school. While similarly cocky and full of himself, Sanada at least didn’t revert to violence every time Eijun bothered him.
“Don’t overwork yourself”, Sanada replied, then grinned at him, “Though looking at you, I might start my warm up rather sooner than later.”
“Hey”, Eijun protested, “I’ve been pitching perfectly fine!”
“I know. Good job.” Sanada leaned forward and ruffled his hair. Honestly, why did people believe that touching Eijun was something they could do whenever they liked it? (He somehow liked it too, it made him feel loved.)
“Huh”, Sanada mumbled more to himself, then turned to Eijun with a frown, stern big brother face, “You’re quite warm, better take off that extra jacket, we don’t want you overheating.”
“Yes, sir”, Eijun shouted, “I should be pitching soon anyways.” He shrugged off the jacket and shivered when the cold air hit him.
“I wouldn't be too sure of that, our team is on a roll”, Sanada laughed and pointed towards the field where a hit from one of their teammates had just loaded the bases. Miyuki was next - and they still were at zero outs. If it continued like this…Eijun might even have to bat soon.
“Let’s go, the clever tanuki, cunning and strong! Hit the ball so I can bat”, Eijun called towards his boyfriend. Miyuki ignored him.
Still, it almost came as a surprise when Eijun was called to bat. They were at two outs now, but there were still two runners on base. Oh, how he wanted to bring Miyuki home, who was just crouched at third base, ready to set off. He really didn’t want to disappoint his boyfriend!
Though when he walked out, Eijun could really feel the exhaustion getting to him, his movements felt sluggish and the sun was blinding him. But he could only blame himself for that and this was his chance to show Miyuki what he could do.
He swung at the first ball…and missed. It was almost as if his reaction speed was somewhat worse. Weird, when he was in high school an evening run and a bad night had never affected him as much. That’s probably what people meant when they complained about getting older. Though, 20 shouldn’t be that old, right? With horror he realized he had missed the next pitch that just shot past his face. A ball. Maybe exhaustion actually improved his judgement?
He had to focus.
The pitcher wound up for the next pitch and Eijun tensed his muscles. When the ball released, it shot down the middle on a beautiful path, perfect for a meat ball. Eijun willed his bat to swing but it felt incredibly slow and sluggish. He knew he would miss…everything felt very slow motion, or maybe it was him who was slow. Or maybe
CLANG
he had just…hit… the change up thrown at him.
He looked in awe as the ball disappeared. His heart beat was roaring in his ears - or was it the stadium. As if from far away he heard the announcer calling out a “home run”...right, that meant he had to round the field. With a dazed expression he started his slow jog, every muscle protesting. When he rounded first, their second runner already had made it home. Miyuki was cheering him on from where he stood behind the plate.
It had been luck, maybe fate, but he had just hit a three run homer!
“When did you learn to hit like that?”, Kuramochi asked him when he was rounding second heading towards third. Eijun flushed, he knew too well that for once this had been a fluke. He had reacted too slowly and only this tardiness had matched the timing of the change up. He was concentrating not to stumble, so he just stuck out his tongue at his former team mate.
“Well done”, Miyuki greeted him when he reached home under the cheers of his team mates. Eijun smiled but it felt a bit shaky. His boyfriend gave him a puzzled look and Eijun realized he had made a mistake.
He needed to cheer.
Even if he was feeling weirdly off and it had been a fluke, the fans still deserved to shout with him! Plus he just got them a massive lead, the score was now 5-0 in the 6th inning. Before Miyuki could start his questioning, and he looked like he was ready to, the opposing pitcher managed the third out. They were called to the field and Eijun hurried to the mound which felt way further away than earlier. When he looked over his shoulder, he could see Sanada heading towards the bullpen with one of the catchers. He huffed. He was not ready to give up his position!
After his fastball was hit for the second time Miyuki started changing up the pitching order and with a nice cutter they ended the inning, leaving the others pointless once more. Kuramochi, whom they had struck out last, looked like he was ready to murder both of them. It made Eijun’s heart skip a little with joy. It always felt good to outplay his senpai.
But when he looked up, he saw the coach gesture for a change of players. Sanada was standing next to him, looking almost smug (though..maybe that was just his resting bitch face) and Eijun balked.
Why now?
He had expected to pitch the whole game and had hoped his senpai would support him in this endeavor. And now, even after his home run last inning, he was not even allowed to bat.
When he turned towards Miyuki, raising a questioning eyebrow, he missed a step. Again, it felt like a flashback to his first Koushien appearance as he almost watched his own body falter and faceplant into the ground. The dirt felt surprisingly nice on his hot skin. Eijun carefully took a deep breath, ignoring the laughter from the audience and scrambled to his knees only for his arms to buckle and make him kiss the ground again.
Huh, weird!
His arms just wouldn’t take his weight and the world had started spinning in lazy circles. The laughter was replaced by an annoying buzzing noise and he only noticed Miyuki when the very familiar legs clad in protective padding came into view. He really needed to get off the diamond, not embarrass himself further, but it felt like his body had stopped listening to any commands.
Miyuki’s voice sounded very garbled when he spoke, Eijun could barely make out the words. He did hear his own name though. With another effort he tried to push himself up, but now his body had completely stopped operating.
He had not noticed how much the adrenaline had kept him going. But knowing that he was going to be switched out had brought all his systems to a grinding halt and left him in his current predicament.
Him not replying brought Miyuki down to his eye level as the catcher crouched down. Now that his face was closer, Eijun could finally make out what he was saying.
“Sawamura, what happened? Are you hurt?”
Eijun shook his head, both in reply and trying to clear out some of the fog clouding his thoughts. “My body won’t listen to me,” he whined. Miyuki’s brows furrowed even further and he grabbed his arm. “Let’s get you off the field first.”
When Eijun struggled to follow his guidance he shouted something at their teammates and seconds later Sanada was at his other side. He looked equally as worried as Miyuki which was completely unnecessary. Eijun was fine, just currently unable to control his movements very well.
“There will be a short intermission for medical treatment.” The announcer’s voice echoed through the stadium. Eijun froze and turned towards his boyfriend. “Who are they treating? Did anyone get hurt?” He asked with concern in his voice. Miyuki looked weirdly constipated at his question and just sighed. “Come on, up you go.”
With Miyuki to his left and Sanada to his right they hoisted him up and after a few seconds Eijun managed to place his feet back on the ground. Still, the other two were basically carrying him back to the dugout, his legs still uncooperative. Puzzled, he saw that the medics were heading towards them. He turned his head towards Miyuki to ask him about it. The movement made his head ring and his vision started to grow fuzzy at the edges, then started closing in.
“Miyuki-senpai, I feel a bit weird”, he mumbled before his vision went black.
The sun was shining directly into his eyes as he blinked away the dark spots. What exactly…? It all came crashing back. He had fainted! In front of everyone! How embarrassing!
Eijun groaned and tried to cover his rapidly blushing face. From afar he heard the chatter of the crowd. Apparently he was still on the field. When his eyes finally focused he found himself face to face with his boyfriend, though his head was upside down. Oh… he was lying with his head in Miyuki‘s lap as the catcher bent over him.
“Welcome back.” His voice sounded a bit strained. But before Eijun could ask what had happened and how long he had been unconscious someone made Miyuki move over and two medics made him climb onto a stretcher. Oh no, everyone must be watching them!
Being carried off the field left him a little disoriented, but soon enough he was made to lay down on a bed in the infirmary. A doctor started questioning Miyuki, who had followed them, but weirdly no one talked to him. Oh right, they didn't know he was awake. With great effort he turned his head to look at his boyfriend.
“Shouldn’t you go and catch for Sanada-senpai?” He asked.
Miyuki, who had had his back turned towards Eijun, jerked his head around and just stared at him. “The game is still paused, they’ll wait for me.” His voice sounded both soft and a little annoyed. Before Eijun could think of a reply, the doctor handed Miyuki a thermometer and Eijun could only watch how he pulled up his compression shirt and placed the thermometer in his armpit. He still felt a little detached. The ceiling above him kept swimming in and out of focus and only after Miyuki nudged him he noticed the angry beeping and handed him the thermometer without checking.
The sharp intake of air told him everything he needed to know, but rather than leaving him in the illusion of just being a little tired, Miyuki shoved the thermometer into his face.
“Almost 40°C.” There was an edge to his voice that made Eijun shiver even harder. “How on earth did you think playing with a fever that high was a good idea?”
To his embarrassment Eijun felt tears welling up in his eyes. “I didn’t notice,” he choked out, using one hand to wipe away some of the wetness. “I just thought I was tired from running yesterday evening.”
He could see how Miyuki’s lips formed the words ‘running yesterday’, but before his boyfriend could round on him again, the doctor interrupted. “Sawamura-senshuu, you should probably get checked out at a hospital. Should I call a taxi?”
Before Eijun could answer, Miyuki shook his head. “I’ll take him there as soon as the game’s done.”
He got up and… just left. It hurt even worse than his aching body, which was now being joined by his head. Crying really didn’t help.
The doctor kept on puttering around, but Eijun closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore this cruel world. Before he knew it he was fast asleep.
“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty.” Eijun groaned and tried to swat away the hand caressing his cheek. Just five more minutes!
The realization of what had happened hit him like a train and he let out an involuntary whimper.
“Is he okay? Did his fever get worse?” The familiar voice sounded extremely worried and finally, Eijun managed to crank open one eye. Miyuki had already changed back into that atrocious purple shirt he loved and was carrying both their bags over his shoulder. He had swapped the goggles for his usual frames and looked like he had showered. It made Eijun wonder just how long he had slept.
“His temperature plateaued half an hour ago. He should be waking up soon enough with all the noise going on. Please take him to get checked out at the hospital. I fear that he might have influenza with the sudden onset of symptoms.”
Oh, they had not noticed that he was awake. Eijun closed his eye again and decided to listen some more.
“Sudden onset of symptoms?” Miyuki inquired. “Yes, it’s quite typical that patients don’t really notice they’re sick until it hits them like a brick.” The doctor explained and Eijun nodded in agreement. He had been relatively okay until he had to leave the mound.
“Ah, you’re awake.” His movement must have given him away, so eventually Eijun struggled upright. Within a second Miyuki was by his side and supported him. It almost felt like his boyfriend was feeling bad for being so cold earlier. Well, Eijun would happily take it. He let go of some of the tension keeping him upright and felt Miyuki’s arms tighten around his shoulders.
“You’re a furnace, stay away.” Miyuki complained sleepily as he pushed Eijun off of him when they were finally home. It turned out that Eijun had indeed managed to contract influenza. Luckily, Miyuki was vaccinated and only Eijun was paying the price for missing that appointment.
Well, not only Eijun. He snuggled closer again. Miyuki was nice and warm and his body heat helped keep the shivers of his once again rising fever at bay. In the hospital they had managed to bring his temperature down with a short infusion, but now he felt both hot and cold again. But the doctor said he would be okay with a bit of rest, after all he was a young and healthy athlete. So there was nothing really to worry about.
He pressed his cheek to Miyuki’s bare chest and hummed. Being an athlete came with strong muscles and even though his ached at the moment he would not let go. Served Miyuki right.